no show

No interview today. It was actually okay with me. With me leaving in 2 days for the conference, I have many things to take care of. No show is actually okay with me. :-)

individual project

So instead of doing a group project this early, when clearly some were still not ready for online learning, Bil changed the final project to an individual project. I think this is a GREAT idea!

For the final project, we are to write 3 blog posts, each with tags, to answer the questions of what we learned in Buddhism, through discussions, and about technology.

I feel the way the questions were asked thought out this class,  could be improved. Based on many postings I have read, people tend to write in a very general way. I often find myself wanting to ask - for example?

I wish the questions asked us to give specific examples. Otherwise I feel many people will again give very general, broad-stroke kind of answers.

But at least there is one question about technology that I can certainly use

Online Learning: More Than Technical Savvy

We posit that readiness for online learning has less to do with students' knowledge of technology and digital dexterity and more to do with their knowledge of how to learn and their motivation to engage fully in the process.
http://cgi.stanford.edu/~dept-ctl/cgi-bin/tomprof/posting.php?ID=974

True. Willingness can overcome shortage of skills. Skills can be learned but motivation is harder to cultivate, especially in an informal setting

tipping point

Okay, now I feel better; someone actually read my post and responded. Not only that, the response was quite interesting. Now this made me feel a little more socialable with this strangely formal community..

Formal in the way people write – very formal. Very few add anything personal, very few asked questions and people do not help answer any questions (e.g. http://www.uwestonline.com/laydharma//mod/forum/discuss.php?d=62)

added 11/7 - writing formal actually creates the distance between the writer and the reader

wish it was more social

So I asked what happened to the best-worst forum as the icebreaker activity? http://www.uwestonline.com/laydharma//mod/forum/discuss.php?d=41
Evidently it was turned into invisible to help forum clean. I don’t know. I feel so far that was the most fun activity. People shared stories and some were quite interesting. You get to know people that way. The other discussions have been quite restricted in the sense that the questions were asked in a narrowed way (in my opinion) without too much flexibility in directions. It is sad to see this best-worst forum go since it represented the best social interactions so far.

online as a place or as a support

1. Lack of human resources – need skilled helper
2. Other priority (e.g. assessment documentation) overtake time
3. Multiple responsibilities
   
4. Pressure to live up to the huge responsibility – Grace: we are responsible for our own learning
   
5. Phone calls to participants – reasons given:
   

busy, no time, busy with other family obligations – Grace: commitment issues
confusing at the beginning with too many emails

did not watch videos so confused

no concept of online learning

does not spend a lot of time online, e.g. not online after work, e.g. needs
to know how long it will take to finish each module, e.g. can finish during
lunch break

does not think of the Internet as a place of study – not culturally informed
this way, not engaged this way, no concept of community outside the “required”

bus driver doesn’t want to drive when he is on vacation - life style not
include the Internet – after work, done with the Internet

consider the Internet as a support of study (this is where I get the
materials) rather than a place of study (this is the place to study)

technology is more than just type the paper on the computer but also want to
break away from the computer, does not want to be always on

what is their relationship with computer?

1. Maybe pull back group project

Holding back my participation

Reason 1: I am not sure how to answer this week’s discussion question. I might just ask my own question and provide some personal reflection

Reason 2: I was quite vocal the week before on discussion. I want to see more clearly how others interact. Once I start posting, I get involved in the discussion itself, not the research. It is hard to be both – a participate and a researcher

much better with the PPT

I have to admit that I was very lost when listening to the first lecture. Unfamiliar content plus no written material made the learning difficult. I asked for the PPT and it was made available. However, I never went back to lecture 1 due to time constrain.

Today I read the reading and listened to lecture 2. With the PPT in front of me, I felt I was more in tune with the lecture and actually enjoyed it this time. Something as small as just putting up the PPT can make a big difference in learning. Talking about universal design!!!

Because I had the PPT in front of me, and maybe the contents are something more familiar, so maybe I was more at ease while going through the lecture. I actually clicked on all the links leading to additional materials. However, I did not actually read any of them. I wonder if anyone in the class did. Maybe this could be a good post-class survey question.

Some observation about the reading material – very dry, academic writing style, suspect not very accessible to general readers

Some observation about the PPT – very busy background, interesting selection of the Buddha statute that resembles a westerner – good choice!

PLE

I was reading Curt’s new book the World is Open this morning and read about PLE – personalized learning environment – how in the world of web2.0, each person can personalize how we like our learning environment to be. To me, it is all about options, choices, and flexibility. I can see that the initial orientation week daily email did not provide flexibility nor choice. I felt forced to take this step today and that step the day after. Or maybe it is just me, who likes to be in control of my learning – when, where, how, etc.

While reading this book, I also remember that I used to like the CoP framework. Maybe I can use that framework again for this research

Another observation is that the initial icebreaker activity about our best-worst experience talking Buddhism to non-Buddhist disappeared from the forum. I personally like things to be open and shared. It seems quite controlled to make them unavailable. I understand the need to un-cluster the forum. But I think the way to do it is not to make some discussion invisible. I may add that I think those are some of the best interactions I have seen so far

binge replying behavior?

From email we were informed about teacher’s recent illness. On the weekend, our absent teacher surfaced and replied to many discussions with very thoughtful feedbacks. I am impressed but can imagine the amount of work involved. However, such a “binge” replying pattern reminded me of one of my current TAs – she will reply to all students at once, after the deadline. I am not sure it adds to the richness of the conversations as much as it could if she does this throughout the week. Conversation by definition should be something that goes back and forth.

privileged voice?

Someone’s voice was privileged over others today, in my opinion. It is not good nor bad, just an observation. I also wanted to know if there is a way to get site statistics on replying and participation behaviors – e.g. how many replies per person, how many postings read per person, and how many log ons during a week by weekday. I also got to know that if I have a couple of students to help me observe the online discussion, it will be allowed. My students will be observers while I will be an active participant. My students will not participate.

Online question-asking behavior

In today’s writing group meeting, I shared with my buddies my very preliminary observation of the online conversations so far. I complained to them that I asked a question and nobody answered. I was not happy about that so I asked again by starting another thread. My buddies immediately reacted to what I said

First, they said this is unusual behavior. They said in a f2f class, if you ask a question and nobody answers, you shut up. You don’t usually ask again. This gets me thinking. Okay, maybe I am a little over aggressive in seeking my answer online. In a f2f situation, I probably can pick up people’s body language and tell that they either are not interested in my question or maybe don’t have an answer to it.

In an online environment, I couldn’t know. I thought it might be because my question was buried in the mass threads.

Maybe it was just that nobody thinks my question was interesting enough to answer. Maybe that is the case. But my buddies pointed out something interesting – how we might behave differently f2f vs online

highlights from today’s conversation with Bil

• Adding human factors to the online environment – making phone calls, letting them hearing the human voice, be responsive to inquires. Will start by asking questions.
• Teachers’ (current and future) technology level – a common problem I think, and an often overlooked factor in establishing an online program. Teacher’s online presence is substituted by Bil’s aggressive online presence
• Level of student interactions – those who are familiar with the online environment have been activity, motivated, and interacting with one another. There is about half of the “invisible” students who are not yet presence. Bil can see the site logs and know that they actually have been logging in and clicking on lecture links. Due to maybe English and/or technology limitations, they have not been participating. Another factor might be the unfamiliarity with the western educational system to speak up, question, debate, and be active.
• Pre-survey provided some insightful information, especially about people’s time commitment. Most people cannot only spend a very limited amount of time on this program.
• UWest is not investing too many resources into this program. As a one-person shop, Bil might be overworked and overloaded with all aspects of the program.
• Thinking about grouping and the next group assignment – want to mix different levels but consider geographical diversity

My reflections:
1. U West needs to invest more resources to ensure program success. Adding more program staff and provide teacher technology training are two obvious and immediate ones
2. With an open-door policy, a program likes this will have students coming in with different levels of English, technology, and Buddhism content knowledge. This is okay but how to scaffold so the entire community and move forward while each individual can find their own voice is a challenge

I changed to landline connection before the interview but the connection was dropped toward the end. Technology! What can you say?

So the teacher finally surfaced

On Monday, 5 October 2009, 01:29 PM (server time), Dr. Long finally posted his first and only discussion to the forum about the “best-worse” experiences. I find it interesting that it takes this long for him to “show his face,” and it seems to me that he did not read what everyone else has written. I am not sure his limited involvement was by design (maybe he is doing this as a volunteer) or other reasons.

I have enjoy reading other people’s postings. You can kind of tell a person’s online persona through their writing. I am sure I come across as someone very blunt as I ask blunt questions. That is okay. In real life, I speak my mind too :-)

orientation week: icebreaker?

Okay, we have to read a chapter from the textbook and watch about 30 minutes of a lecture video. Then we participate in an online discussion. All sound more than reasonable. However, this is going to be a very busy week so I don’t know when I will have time to finish watching the video.

I was waiting for the icebreaker activity to happen over the weekend. I guess Bil has decided to not do it. Or maybe he felt the best-worst discussion serves as one. I am still wondering about how to approach the students about the consent form.

Orientation week: Syllabus received

I like what I see on the syllabus. So there will be some online discussions. Okay, I can handle that. There will be some online lectures. I will have to view them to determine if I like it or not. My prejudice is that I don’t like long video lectures unless the speakers are as engaging as those on TED. There is a group project. I am a little concern about it. It seems to be a big leap from the kind of step-by-step, very easy, low key technology orientation we have been receiving this week, to something that required not only team work but the production of a video. I am not sure what is the design behind this activity; I will make sure to ask Bil.

So far everything has been easy to follow, except they seem a little clustered. I attribute it to be the pilot first time around. I like that each orientation video is very short but I find myself fast forward almost all of it. I guess I feel I know the content but still want to view it to be sure. Typical online video watching behavior I assume.

Orientation week: Best and Worst

I like this sharing question - What has been your best experience when teaching about or explaining Buddhism to non--Buddhists? What has been your worst? Describe one of each!

Some very interesting stories have been shared online. I am very used to this kind of interactions so I can jump right in. I think several others are also seasoned online learners. However, I have also noticed that many students are still missing in action. I wondered why. Have they received all the emails sent by Bil? If so, what are the reasons they have choosen to be not active up to this point? I wish there is a way for me to know.

Here is my post to re-shared here

A couple of weeks ago I posted this on my Facebook message

Pain is inevitable; suffering is option by unknown → translation: Pain could be caused by external factors yet suffering is what you do to yourself.

The next day, I went swimming with a friend at the beach. She told me that she is a little afraid to go too deep out to the ocean because she had encountered a sea turtle just 3 weeks ago and she was so scared by that experience. She has been telling me this in the past 3 weeks during our weekly swim. So I looked at her and asked, is it really that little turtle that has caused you all this suffering? She smiled right back at me and said, I know, the turtle might have caused my initial pain but I am doing this to myself.

I laughed so hard. It might not be how I would relate that quote to this situation but I am thrilled that my friend found a way to apply my Facebook message to her life situation.

Fast forward to a couple of years ago.

I had just entered graduate school and people were curious why I am a vegetarian. Innocently I started to say how cows cried before they were slaughtered. I did not even finish the first couple of sentences, my advisor, whom I deeply respect, angrily in almost a yelling way, interrupted me and said, no, they do not and they are meant to be raised and eaten.

What I learned is I have to say to people of what they can accept. My advisor is a farm girl and she raises animals to be slaughtered. What I was about to say completely contradicted her belief system. So the most common answer now I give to almost anyone is – this is trendy, did you know that being a vegetarian can help reduce a ton of carbon foorprint in a year? If you are a vegan, up that to 2 tons! Most people are impressed and then we can have more conversations on how to do it and why.

orientation week: Small hiccup

Bil sent another email today to delay the next orientation activity. I can imagine the work involved in putting put a class for the first time. Funny I took yet another peek at the pre survey results today. One person evidently is very skeptical about the benefit of an online class. This person expressed his or her concern by sharing, “I am not sure that you can really teach anything online. But, I hope I am wrong about this.” Great, at least this person is open-minded about the possibility. This person went on to share that “I think that it would take so much time to do an online course properly that it is not possible to do that and conduct research.” It is so true that it takes a tremendous amount of time to get an online class ready. I often wish I can teach face-to-face more since I can have all the content in my head without having to digitalize all of them in advance and post to class BEFORE class! Yes, I understand the concerns very well.

Let’s see if this certificate program will move on smoothly and let’s see if and how an online community is formed.